Is it possible to survive on a $30 per week grocery budget?

I am single and have about $30 per week for groceries which I find hard to do and get a balanced diet. I do go to multiple stores to get the best prices and use coupons the best I can. The thing that bothers me, is when a staple item I use is on sale, I normally don’t have an extra $5 (let alone more) to spend to purchase it. How can I stock-up on sale items when I have such a little bit to get by with anyways? -Renee

Contrary to what many people may tell you, I think you can definitely eat well on $30 per week — and you can find a little wiggle room to buy ahead, too.

My husband and I both lived on a $30 per week grocery budget when we were first married. This included all the ingredients to make 21 meals for both of us each week, plus all household products.

A Can-Do Attitude Is a Must

Don’t let yourself think, “There’s no way I can eat on this small of a budget.” Instead, decide that you’re going to do the best you can with the resources you have.

Make it a game, of sorts, to see how well you can do on a little. By challenging yourself to exercise creativity and think outside the box, you’ll enjoy it a lot more. And when you’re enjoying something, it no longer seems so difficult.

In order to be able to scrape together enough money to start buying ahead and building up your stockpile, I’d encourage you to commit to eating really simply for a few weeks. Cut your grocery budget back to $25, and save the extra $5 to invest in those rock-bottom, can’t miss deals — or to purchase almost-free toiletries and household products.

If you’re thinking there’s no way you can eat on $25 per week, here’s a grocery list and menu plan I came up with:

Sample $25 Grocery List and Menu

Prices are approximate and will likely vary a little by area.You may be able to beat these prices with great sales and/or coupons.

Beans and rice with steamed veggies on the side
Chicken, rice, and carrot soup
Baked chicken breast on a bed of rice, steamed veggies
Rice, chopped chicken, and steamed veggies mixed together and sprinkled with saltHomemade refried beans, baked chicken, steamed veggies
Chicken and veggie stirfry served over rice
Leftovers

Yes, this isn’t a very exciting menu. But if you’re willing to scrimp for a few weeks and eat very simply, it will free up that extra $5 or so each week to start buying a few extra things that are on a great sale (like a bag of flour, like that incredible deal on strawberries — some to eat now, some to freeze for later, or that fantastic special on beef).

As you invest some of your grocery money in the rock-bottom specials and deals, this helps you to build up more of a stockpile so that, over time, you’ll be able to have more and more variety without increasing your budget.

Want to cut your grocery budget but don’t know where to start? I highly recommend checking out Grocery University. This step-by-step course has helped thousands of families lower their grocery budget — and it can help you, too! Read all about it here.

Comments

It is possible… I feed our family for $60 a week, and that includes diapers for two. Without diapers, about $45, and I feel like I don’t stick to my list and splurge on a few items. We also have the advantage of being able to use the commissary. I have tried shopping weekly sales, but the commissary beats the local stores 99% of the time. If any of you readers are military, definitely check out your commissary! Especially if you don’t buy diapers online… ours is cheaper than even Sam’s club generic ones.

I wish we could use more of these suggestions, but in interior Alaska a gallon of milk is close to $6, a loaf of bread is $3, peanut butter is $4.59 for the smaller jar, a dozen eggs are $1.89….I could go on and on – did I mention those are “cheap” commissary prices? To get to town where there are 3 grocery stores (Safeway, Fred Meyer & Walmart) it’s nearly an hours’ drive each way, so can’t possibly even out to be worth driving to one store for milk that’s .50 cents cheaper this week than it is here.. and there isn’t ONE dollar store in this God-forsaken town… counting down to when we get to leave & return to civilization – a little over 26 months.

I hear you! I’m in Australia and our prices are much similar to what your saying in Akaska! We have dollar type stores but they mostly have close to outta date foods and nothing is really $1! We also don’t have food coupons. I will try some of the suggestions where I can as I’d like to change our overspending. We can egg bread for $1 but it is the cheapest most unhealthy stale like bread that u would have to replenish each day. My goal is to find a healthier option for my family not just the cheapest one 🙁
Would love some help from an Australiab cost perspective.

I also hear you Brenda. I live in Australia and I have learnt how to create healthy low cost meals by buying staples like lentils, rice and beans in bulk and cooking from scratch. I have developed around 230 recipes which cost around .60 cents per serve. It can be done but you need to enjoy planning every meal and cooking.

I would love to hear some of your recipes, even though I live in the states, we garden and can everything we grow. also buy in bulk as much as we can. may problem is I have health issues that make it impossible to cook all the time so my disabled husband and his mother (84) can’t/won’t cook like that so I we have to have easy pop in microwave type things and as I type this the light bulb came on duh–freezer homemade meals —lol I have to laugh at myself—now off to find some freezer meals to gather to ingredients for and try on my next good day.

There is so much you can get on the internet these days. Dry goods can be shipped using free shipping methods for Alaska you need to order in advance so you can use ground shipping. If you are military pkgs and have family or a friend willing to ship to you use USPS ground least expensive way and many times it is less expensive for someone to ship tp you rather than you buying there. Many stores have free shipping even to Alaska if you spend a certain amount. A lot of food lasts longer than the time you’ll be there so be on the lookout (have family do so too) for staples that you know you’ll use, and get it shipped to you. I ship things to friends around the worl all year and they save money. No cost to me because I do it while I’m out doing errands. Ask your family I’m sure one will be willing. If you ARe military let the store know some will ship free to military in “remote” locations. You’d be surprised how many are willing.

Not sure what I’m doing wrong but we spend about $125/week for our family of 4! I would love to cut that down. I’ll be looking around your site to see if there is help for that…my problem is variety–I don’t like to have the same thing often and I wouldn’t want to have rice every day, but it would be worth the sacrifice to be able to build up our emergency fund.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this post! I am so glad that I read it. I had not stepped foot in an Aldi for at least 20 years due to stereotypes and such.(They only sold junk food and highly processed foods.) I realize how WRONG I was!! I am so glad to have read this post because I went there today and bought oranges, strawberries, bananas, cucumbers, lettuce, turkey bacon, english muffins and cream cheese. (those last three were cravings!!) I got to the register and the total was $14!!! I was in shock! I had the misconception that with a super tight grocery budget we could not afford fresh fruits and vegetables. With the whole BPA risk with canned vegetables I didn’t want to poison my baby and it broke my heart when I didn’t offer fresh veggies and fruit. Now I have figured out a way to change it! Thank you so much for your dedication to offering suggestions to make grocery budgetting work for EVERYONE!

Love it! Re-read this in the wake of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Food Stamp Challenge and realized this certainly can be done. A big bag each of beans and rice, a few (dented) cans or frozen big bags of corn, peanut butter and bread offer protein, vitamins and fiber. Not an ideal diet, but it can feed you indefinitely. These are in my stockpile for hurricane season.

Also, look for free food opportunities – gallery openings if you live in a big city, company lunches if you work, campus events if you are a student or teacher, gardener friends with surplus, gleaning opportunities from farms at the end of the season or people with fruit trees, hiking in the woods where there are wild berries, and birthday freebies offered by (tons of) restaurants and shops. Save the money you would have spent to stock up.

Prices per area are realy very different. In my area (ct) milk is $3.40 or more. But I try to get shopping with $60 a week for 2.
I look first for deals, than I make my plan for the week. That helps a lot and of corse coupons and rebate apps.
Sorry for the bad English 🙂

Grocery shopping for 2 for about $60.00 is absolutely doable. The original list contains frozen food. Why. Fresh chicken and fresh vegetables will not cost more, but are healthier. I shop at a local ethnic discount market, sticking to my usual shopping list (with minimum or no processed foods) and varying fruits and vegetables if offered seasonally on sale. BTW, I do not sacrifice quality; my shopping list includes 1 quart of goat milk at about $5.00 and organic eggs at about $4.00 per dozen.

Many times frozen veggies are far more healthful than fresh. The frozen veggies are picked and frozen the same day. God only knows how long the carrots have been out of the ground by the time they reach your local store.

Our dollar store carries frozen veggies but you need to keep in mind on the weight of the package. Something that costs $1 at the dollar store may weigh less than the $1 package at walmart. So you aren’t getting your moneys worth.

Here in Hawaii $30 doesn’t go far unless your eating processed foods. An example would be milk @ $7.00 (1/2 gallon) and bread loaf about $3.00 – $4.00. The list provided would cost approximately $60.00. We no longer have a dollar stores.

Being that I’m a stay home mom of two boys, I have a tight budget. I also have been transforming our foods to organic slowly. I can see a slight difference of freshness, certain things last longer than others, and taste better. I have staples like bananas and apples always, but rotate strawberries to every other week as a treat. My regular groceries come from Costco, Produce from local farmers markets (biweekly), odds and ends at the regular grocer.

I have yet to buckle down and plan meals. It’s a project in itself. My next task is to clean out the kitchen and take a written survey of all products, even down to spices like salt and pepper. Check dates and rearrange everything. The point would be to itemize things and as I buy new ones estimate the usage of how often I use it. I’m curious to see how many trips it takes to Costco for toilet paper for the year? Just another example for annual cost purposes.

Well my bright ideas could go on and on. So I will end with Good luck from where ever you live. Shop smart, not hungry!

$30 weekly would be a dream for me, living in Hawaii and a family of 4. Almost all of my veggies come from the farmer’s matket, eggs from the local egg farm and I use coupons when possible. No sugar juices and soda. Meats are almost unaffordable here, we eat chicken & pork amd only when I can find it at under $2 a pound. I’ve had to shift & save in other areas of my budget to keep up with food. Gas & Prescriptions from Costco, dilute dish soap & cleaning agents, etc… Good luck out there! Aloha from Waimanalo

Your suggestion to shop for groceries at the dollar store is a good one. I think a lot of people have no idea that dollar stores even sell groceries, and that a lot of money can be saved by shopping there. You can stock up on a lot of common items that cost much more at ‘regular’ grocery stores.

Some of you might be able to grow some of your food too. You really don’t need much time or space to supplement your daily food budget for a small upfront investment…here in south fl I am able to grow quite a bit of food, au naturelle, for my family and thus cut down on the overall cost of groceries. Just a thought as I noticed that lost of people who commented live in areas that would be amazing to garden in!!

To sum up the responses, in agreement, I must say Thanks so much for posting the info. I pasted the sample grocery list in my email for when I go shopping next time. Aldi and Walmart are my favs. I also look at the store brand items at regular grocery stores because there is definitely a price gap between store brand and popular name brand items. I hate paying more than $40 for just myself each week….trying to get healthy items so that hikes up the price sometimes. I didn’t read through all the posts but there are some raw mixed veggie bags in the salad section (ex: Safeway) and there are usually some decent prices.

This has great tips and good menu options. Personally I have a household of 5 (6 in September :-)) and I am around $100-$150 weekly. That is including everything diapers/baby, health/ beauty, cleaning products, and of course food. My main goal to save money is useing what you buy, I cant stand throwing out a 1/2 a pan of last Tuesdays dinner. I always make large meals so its enough for dinner plus lunch the next day. In addition fresh produce is surprisingly cheap and the best for nutrition and cooking! Buy whats in season.

Caution! The “honey” at the dollar stores is usually flavored corn syrup. I know this because we use the buy a loaf of bread, jars of jelly and peanut butter trick all the time on vacation. They are usually a good place for mustard and chicken or beef stock too. (Btw-I also get my sudoku books at Dollar Tree, just over a penny a puzzle.)

How big a bag of chicken breasts? Apples? Carrots? And only four bags of frozen veg? Where are the stir-fry veggies from? (although the rice and chicken could be leftovers!)
I’d tend to go for a bag of leg quarters because I know how to carve the meat off the bone and I can use the bones and trimmings (and carrot peels and ends!) to make the broth for the soup. Also, chicken thighs and drumsticks have more flavor in stir-fry. (And leg quarters are usually cheaper!)
Regarding the dry beans, two words: pressure cooker! (if not, slow cooker can also work overnight)
Recipes for the chicken soup and the rice and beans for those of us to whom these are new dishes (or not normally made without a can)?

I personally think that a good tip is to get to know your neighbors – and work together. If you see a great deal on chicken thighs – buy an extra package for them. If they see a great deal on hamburger – they can buy you some hamburger. They’ve got a plum tree/apple tree/berry bushes they don’t fully use? Ask if you can have some, then give them a jar of jam. Pool your $ together to buy 50-100 pounds of flour, then divide it up – a homemade loaf of bread only costs 35 CENTS to make. You’ve got a food processor, but they don’t? Offer to make peanut butter, if they buy the peanuts. Several families working together can make it easier than going it alone. We’ve forgotten how to do that in our modern world. It think it’s time to reclaim the “community”.

I love that you provided a grocery list showing the items you can get and the food you can prepare for just $30 a week. Our food budget has increased significantly now that I am expecting and trying to eat more fruit and nuts. Before that, my husband and I were spending $50 a week on groceries. It was tight (especially when we needed to buy laundry detergent or shower gel or the likes) but we made it work. Love the thought of only $30 a month though.

oh I remember the days when I would spend $150 for 2 weeks worth of groceries for my family of five. I sure do miss Aldi. We no longer live where there is an Aldi. What a very helpful post. I’ve got to figure out how to feed three teenagers on less than $200 a week. You post was encouraging. At least I know where I can start. Thanks for sharing.

What a great challenge! I honestly have no idea how I could do this but I know even if I saved a little it would be great. I live in California and I think the prices are higher here than in some other places but I’m pretty sure I don’t need to be spending at least $1,000 on food monthly for our family of 4 like I do. I need to be better about eating leftovers and not wasting produce.

Prices are so high where I live ( Los Angeles), I often find a larger quantity of a product on sale so I just call a friend or two and ask if they want to split the package so I can get more for the same or a lower price. Just thought I would share that.

So glad i found this post. I was getting very discouraged when I’d go To check and find that spent half my budget for the month. :/ but this gave me a good starting point. Also you can coupon at dollar tree! Say you need dish soap. 1$ off one Palmolive soap= free at the dollar tree! 🙂 just thought I’d share that.

We’ve lived this way a number of times during our 33+ years of married life. Husband just retired, which cut our income back again, but I’m not afraid. I know how to save.
Here’s a post that deals directly with $30/week for groceries…for 2-4 people.

Another thought I would add is to buy in bulk rather than buying prepackaged items when you can. Not only does this mean you’re only buying what you need, but it can be considerably cheaper! For example, at our grocery store, you can buy oatmeal in bulk for as low as $0.70/lb, which is considerably cheaper than $2.50 for a 42-ounce (2.6lb) canister at Walmart! And bulk spices can cost less than a dollar for the same volume that you’d pay a couple dollars for at Walmart.

Living on a super tight budget can be done. I am currently a stay at home mom, and I am feeding my family of five on 35.00 a week. It’s pretty amazing how little you have to spend when you put your mind to it. We live in a very rural area, and this fall, we collected 20 bushels of apples, 3 bushels of pears, 40lb of wild grapes, and and 3 bushels of hickory nuts off of state land. They were turned into apple sauce, diced pears, sliced apples, grape and pear jelly, wine (for gifts), and all canned and frozen. A 50lb bag of deer carrots goes for 5.00. Wash them, peel them, slice them up and can or freeze. We have a potato farm close by that sells 50lbs of “unclassified” potatoes for 10.00. Do with them as you did with the carrots. I make pancake syrup out of hickory bark. It’s quick, easy, and only the cost of sugar. In late summer, you can harvest raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and mullberries. The bread store charges .50 per loaf of bread, rolls, bagels, and buns. As far as meat, we eat a lot of ground turkey, and there are some great specials at certain stores. For example, Kroger did a buy one get one free on turkey tenderloins. It came to 9.00 for enough tenderloin for 5 nights of dinners. I use Aldi for everything else. They only charge 1.79 for a gallon of milk. We also have the “chicken” lady around here that charges 1.50 per dozen of farm eggs. With your milk, you can easily make your own yogurt .Add some of your free berries, and you have great snacks and breakfasts. I make my own granola for super cheap. I bake like crazy, but my children have good food, and they even pack their own lunches. They also take home made jam to their teachers as gifts. If you up the anti a bit, and learn to save your seeds, then your garden produce will cover most of your needs. If you hunt every year, and process your own deer, turkey, birds, and small game, then you don’t have to buy any meat. I suggest bow hunting, because you get to take advantage of early and late hunting season. All your left with is dairy items, and your baking supplies like flour and sugar, once you get the hang of it. It may sound exhausting, but its not, and the kids really do enjoy helping to collect berries, climb apple trees and make jam. The best part is when they can identify “safe” plants compared to “poison” plants. Anyway, hope I gave some ideas.

I live in Edinburgh, it is fascinating to read your food plans and what you cook
In the US. Trying to think what I could add from how we budget as many of your tips are similar to what I do here. One thing is veggie soup, the secret is the stock flavour and have discovered Morrisons local Supermarket sell fresh
Bones from in shop butchery. They can be boiled for about an hour then all the veggies collected from leftover etc added with lentils, or soup pasta, or dried minestrone mix. I have learned also that scrubbed potatoes peeled about half an inch thick give great flavour. Meat from bones goes to dog or into the soup.
Love visiting US on holiday have been 4 times. Elizabeth

I used a lot of bacon ends and pieces for flavoring rice and beans. I also used chicken, beef and ham flavorings. I mixed milk with dry milk 1/2 and 1/2 in a gallon and the kids never knew the different if it was cold. I used ground turkey with beef flavoring to make chilly, ect. Back in the day ground turkey was cheaper than ground beef. 25 years ago I fed 6 people on $140 a month. We only spend $200 a month now for. Thanks for your tips; good article.

I live in the country, and the grocery stores are miles away. Our food is more expensive here and there is no Aldi, etc. A gallon of cheap milk is $4.50-ish or $10 for organic. A loaf of bread is over $3, even at the dollar store. There would be no way we could eat on $30 a week.

Check your local churches. My mothers church picks up day old bakery items from Panera on a weekly basis and is left in the church hall for anyone who wants it. She often brings me loaves and rolls that I wrap well and freeze if I can’t use it right away. Also check Entenmanns/Bimbo bakery outlets. Aldi has a Fit Active line of poultry . I buy ground turkey there for less than half my regular grocery store and it is much leaner and better looking than the name brand packaged ground turkey.

I also find some excellent deals at our Bimbo outlet. Not only are the prices cheap, we get a punch card to get free bread, and we always get a free item that is going out of date (with a husband and three boys everything gets eaten fast)!

There is no way you could spend only $30 a week on organic produce and free- range, no anitbiotic/ hormones chicken and milk, it just isn’t going to happen. It is sad that if you want to eat healthier, support sustainable and enviromentally friendly meats and produce you have to pay more. I suggest your local farmers market or grow your own. Its sad, but true.

To ensure higher quality food, we often:
– make our own bread in our bread machine;
– buy very large bags of rice – cheaper overall (this only works if you are on a tight budget but have the money flow)
– use carrots in a variety of ways: grated for salads (inc. coleslaw), in chunks in stews, raw with a dip, steamed and then drizzled with butter and honey
– buy cabbage; last forever in the fridge, can be used in different salads or cooked
– learn to drink water
– eat apples, raw or cooked as a dessert

I have actually saved money by not stocking up on things and not shopping at costco/sams. I realized I am an overshopper and can’t resist a ‘deal’. So when things got tight I started shopping at Walmart when I realized their prices were about the same as the sale prices elsewhere, especially on baby formula. And even though I am not a Walmart fan, i find it a lot easier. I still stock up some basic things to have on hand when we need something to eat fast (spaghetti, tuna, peanut butter) but I try and plan meals and mostly buy just what we need for the week. I also work full time and have a long commute, so it saves me a lot of time. Couponing, and looking at sale adds and going from store to store took too much time. I am definitely less stressed now!. And I go early int he morning when it is less busy!

Jennifer I used to do the same. I used to overshop with the mindset that “Oh, i’ll eventually use this.” or “I think i’ll use this in the imaginary dish I’m concocting in my head right now as I shop.” instead of actual meal planning.

It took my dad being physically ill and going on disability and FORCIBLY having to save to actually get my shit together and stop wasting money by throwing food away each month.

Now I have to budget his money carefully, create a vague meal plan and compare prices. and NO MORE buying things I don’t need like snacks or things like agave nectar or jones soda or greek yogurt anymore. Cost effectiveness is the name of the game and “frugal” is my middle name.

When I do this, my spouse goes and blows it with all kinds of GMO/sugar laden/ MSG filled junk. Yes, getting on the same page, I understand all that, but the bread-winner does have the final say in our house.

Any tips for shopping on the cheap for the paleo diet? I like to try to get in at least 5 servings of fruit and vegetables every day, which is the high end of the range recommended by the USDA and is less than the amount recommended by most nutritionists. I already spend about $25-30 per week just on produce. And grain isn’t a regular part of our diet. Suggestions?

Buy the seasonal produce that is on sale…we had turnips this month because they were 39 cents/pound. Cabbage was also very cheap. Some months, we eat a lot of the same one or two vegetables! If you have cool, dry storage space, butternut squash and sweet potatoes will keep for months. Buy extra when they are on sale, if you can. I buy whatever type of bagged apples are the cheapest, usually $1.69-$1.99 for 3 lbs.

Make a minestrone-like soup (without the beans and pasta, of course) with bone broth and frozen mixed vegetables. Broth is filling. Chicken legs are usually the cheapest meat I can find, and the bones can be simmered for broth. whole chickens are usually cheap, too. We use zucchini in place of pasta…I can make a great sauce with a jar of sauce, 1/2 lb of ground beef, canned tomatoes, onion and 1/2 bell pepper (which I find on the markdown rack).

Hi! I am about to be living on my own, and buying groceries for the first time! Alot of recipes I see don’t usually say how many people it serves. It just being me I don’t want to waste anything, but I also don’t want to have to run to the store several times a week. Anybody have any tips?

I have been a follower of your blog ever since you first started and have loved eating on a budget…I found it as a game in a strange kind of way that I enjoyed. Things changed the beginning of this year when I became bed ridden and later diagnosed with an auto immune disease and can no longer have oatmeal, rice, grains, corn, gluten, dairy, egg whites, nightshade veggies for a time, and only grass fed meats or wild caught fish. It’s basically a strict auto immune paleo diet. The diet has helped me immensely (as well as many prayers) and I am able to drive again, but it’s made shopping on a strict budget extremely difficult for my husband and I. I buy markdowns whenever possible and we’ve cut back on everything we can. The only thing extra I’m holding on to is a $30 Internet bill. Can you suggest any other ways to save on an all organic diet?

For my budget I’ve found scratch cooking and baking is the best and easiest way to save. Just today I made chicken pot pie for dinner and 2 extra for the freezer. I put a top crust only and skipped the store bought rolled crust which is super easy and convenient but pricey. I opted to make homemade crust since I already had butter and flour on hand. By making that teeny tiny decision I was able to spend those few dollars on a sale of a pantry staples this week. Same goes for biscuits….. I’ll make a triple batch and freeze them. By doing a few make ahead things every week as time permits I’m able to stay ahead and have a nicely stocked freezer and pantry. It’s taken time but the savings are showing! Keep going ladies! Every single effort is worth it!!